Two injections of erythropoietin correct moderate anemia in most patients awaiting orthopedic surgery.

Background The primary objective of this study was to assess the number of erythropoietin (EPO) injections required to reach a hematocrit (Ht) of 40% in moderately anemic patients. The secondary objective was to compare this strategy with autologous blood donation (ABD) in elective orthopedic surgery in terms of red blood cell (RBC) production.